1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system consisting of a plurality of pieces of information equipment connected to a network, a method for controlling a plurality of pieces of information equipment, and a computer readable recording medium for storing a program that controls a plurality of pieces of information equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
While local area networks (LANs) are becoming popular these days where users can upload or download information through users' computers, various environments have also into being where users can exchange data freely through various information equipment such as computers and printers.
It is generally easy to control one or two information equipment. However, if it is intended to control a large number of equipment connected to a network under such an environment, it is not only cumbersome to control each unit of information equipment but also affects the efficiency of office works due to distributed existences of these units.
If the control of the information equipment is not well established, a complicated circumstance can occur. For example, when a user is to print a document which the user generated using a computer, it may so happen that the document may be printed not by a printer nearby but by a printer far away, and it may cause the user to walk a long way to pick it up.
Therefore, techniques have been proposed recently to select automatically a printer that is physically closer to a user by means of using a computer or a control server that stores position information of information equipment in order to print documents for the user. They are, for example, Publications of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application, JP-A-10-177533 and JP-A-10-333845.
However, the techniques disclosed by these publications may still present a problem if the automatically selected printers are located on the other side of a wall or a long table. In other words, a printer that is located at a shortest distance from the user may not necessarily be the easiest one to access as the user has to go around the wall or table.
Another Publication of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application JP-A-7-311665 discloses different technology that uses a usage history memory unit that stores the frequencies of various printers by a particular user. According to this technology, when it is impossible to select one from printers available as a destination of output based on the functions and printing conditions of the printers, the most frequently used printer will be selected for printing based on the data stored in the usage history memory unit.
However, this technology is simply adding the usage frequency as a criterion of selection of a printer in addition to such criteria as printer function and printing condition. Therefore, it causes a problem when a certain printer is used more often than others due to its printer functions, etc. For example, in case of a printing job that can be printed by several printers since its printing requirement level is low, the system may select a printer further away simply because it has been used more often than others although there is a printer that can be used for the job, which is located closer to the user.